Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating premise, mediocre execution
Review: This novel has generated a lot of interest because of its fascinating premise, but at its core, it's a fairly mediocre piece of fluff literature. For those truly interested in the theological and philosophical questions surrounding the book's central mystery, there are far better sources of information available. It's not bad; it's entertaining in a quick, light, fluffy kind of way, but it's ultimately disappointing in that the subject matter deserved a better novel.But what annoyed me most of all was the hero's name: Robert Langdon. It just <i>sounds</i> like the name of a hero in a fluffy mystery novel. Surely Mr. Brown could have come up with something a bit less trite.
Rating: 
Summary: A Real Page Turner
Review: I could barely put this book down! Dan Brown is an excellent storyteller. He makes this very controversial topic read like an action novel. Excellent read.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Almost Plagiarism
Review: I agree with all of the readers who give this book 1 star (or less, if possible). Many have observed that Brown obviously steals from the research of HOLY BLOOD HOLY GRAIL. However, I have yet to see anyone state that the bulk of Brown's sex goddess theology (including gothic arch "vaginas") comes straight off the pages of THE TEMPLAR REVELATION by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince. Read these two books, and you'll see that Brown's so-called "research" took perhaps all of two weeks to compile. Everything in Da Vinci Code is somewhere in these two books. He is neither original, nor is he a good writer. Baigent, Leigh, Lincoln, Picknett, and Prince, in my opinion, have grounds to bring a plagiarism suit against Brown. I hope they do. I hope they win.
Rating:
Summary: Grail Story for the non Non-Fiction Reader
Review: If your not a NON FICTION book reader and not aquinted with the recent historical, anthropological, and scientific discoveries of the Holy Grail/Jesus Mystery throughout the last 20 years, Da Vinci code does a nice job concising this information for you wrapped around a good story. This book may surely turn off the die-hard Religious types out there but they too should read this with an open mind. If the book is offensive to you in anyway, there is a good 'out' for you to take, just remember to classify it as fiction in your mind and that should make it a bit easier for you to read. The story is very good where the action never lets up. The author does a good job of incorporation fact within his fictional characters. The characters are developed well and the story builds to a climax. The book is a good way to bring a conterversial topic to the mainstream.
Rating:
Summary: The worst written bestseller I have ever read
Review: I couldn't finish it. The farther I read, the more shallow the characters became, the more clunky the writing and storytelling got. I started skimming halfway through, and then even that seemed like a waste of time. It sits on a shelf right now, 1/4 unread. I don't know what the attraction is. I really don't.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a flawless book, but an important one
Review: Although I do consider the underlying "truths" in this book somewhat simplistic, I do appreciate the "reverse discrimination" effect it achieves on challenging what I do believe are patriarchal consipiracies, power plays, and "mistruths" disseminated by orthodox religions, particulary the Catholic Church. Why would the Priory of Sion "worship Mary Magdalane as the Divine Mother, and Goddess"?, when one of the "truths" that they believed is that Jesus was only mortal, and himself not "God", but only elevated to that state by Constantine. Why didn't Constantine simply eradicate ALL references to Magdalane in the Bible, as though she never existed, if she was such a threat? Why does the Priory adopt some truths in the Constantine version of the Bible, such as Jesus'royal lineage, for example, but selectively discount other information in the same book? Furthermore, the theories in this book have been exposed for decades, and are nothing new, and yet the Church has not been "devastated." Yes, I do believe that Mary Magdalane was a noble pure woman of royal blood, that she was herself the actual "rock" the Jesus wanted his "church", for lack of a better word, to be built on, and that she did have the progeny as suggested in this book, and hidden gospels. I would love to see an Alpha female as the pope, and alpha female priests, and the "Goddess" find her rightful place within the vatican, and perhaps in the renaissance of the divine feminine someday, she will, in some form or another. If this book facilitates the swing of the pendulum, and clears Mary's name and honor, as it does, then even though it is by no means a flawless book, it is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: My Thoughts.
Review: When I first began to read the Da Vinci Code I thought that it was quite boring. As I got into it though, I found it was quite interesting. The suspense is amazing! The book takes place in France, for the main part. The search they are on will suprise you, in many different ways. The book starts out pretty normal then has a couple of twists and turns and before you know it you will be so caught up you won't be able to put it down. I think this book is very well written and has excellent details. I really enjoyed reading this book and finished it quickly because I couldn't put it down. I strongly recommend this book to anyone, but especially to people who are interested in art.
Rating:
Summary: pickin' cherries
Review: As a child I spent every summer picking cherries for 5 cents a pound in the warm valleys of the central Rocky Mountains. Maybe I could use my experience doing "research" for Dan Brown,
because that is exactly what he has done in the Da Vinci Code. It also appears that many of those (and you know who you are) who are touting this book as the truth have done the same thing in their reading, choosing to accept that Jesus was married, but ignoring Brown's "research" that supports that He was not the Son of God. Brown appears to have adopted the highly suspect and questionable theories laid out in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and "The Gnostic Gospels." Both of these texts used cherry picking research to support their thesis. There is little doubt that historical Christianity has not always treated women equally, but there is little evidence in the so called Gnostic gospels of Phillip, Mary and Thomas to support Brown's outrageous claims, on the contrary, the last verse of Thomas includes this peculiar and anti-woman exchange: when Peter says, "women are not worthy of life." Jesus responds, "I myself will lead her in order to make her male...for every woman who makes herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Brown seems to have ignored this contradiction. I would like to hear Brown's response to the many objections that have been raised concerning his "research," but alas he seems to be A.W.O.L.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it okay, but...
Review: I'm just more accustomed to high-tech science fiction or cyberpunk books, such as "Neuromancer", "Cryptonomicon", "Mona Lisa Overdrive", "Darkeye: Cyber Hunter", "Snow Crash", etc. But this book's still worth reading and owning if, for no other reason, the controversial tale that it weaves with some good plot twists.
Rating: 
Summary: A Page Turner
Review: Yes, this book is a page turner however I did find the writing to be a bit simplistic. Having said that, I still read this book in less than one week. Dan Brown had me hooked. I thought the topic was very interesting and the way the author weaved his story using fact and fiction as the thread was wonderful.
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